In his new column, our DIY expert answers your questions on tiling, staircases and mice invasions

I have several cracked and chipped ceramic tiles on my kitchen floor and it looks very unsightly. Can I replace them individually or will I have to change the whole lot?

If you have spare tiles then it is perfectly possible to replace cracked or broken ones. Buying fresh tiles might be difficult.

Even if the same ones are available, they may be a different shade and size, so you may have no alternative but to lift the whole lot and start again.

That takes a whole day with a Kango. Lay tiles on a clean, dry and level substrate, starting from a cross drawn in the centre of the room and working outwards to the walls or beneath the kickboards of the units. If you can obtain replacement tiles then you need to take the cracked tiles up without disturbing their neighbours.

Use a Fein saw with a special attachment to cut out the grout, then chip out the old tile. Scrape away any adhesive, then lay the new tile using an epoxy tube adhesive.

When it's set, regrout using the same grout powder as before. Smooth it off with your finger in a damp cloth. Sprinkle dry grout mixture on top to absorb excess water. When dry, polish the tiles off with a damp cloth and then a dry one.

We had a party recently and, despite putting coasters everywhere, guests put glasses down on our beautiful antique furniture. Now we have those unsightly white rings, which no amount of polishing seems to get rid of. Any suggestions please?

Buy some walnuts. Crack them and simply rub the walnut kernel (the edible bit), along the grain of the wood, over the stain. It should vanish before your eyes.

I am sure I have mice in my attic as I have heard scampering and rustling sounds in the night. Will they do any harm or are they just coming in for the winter months?

They may be in your attic at the moment, but when they get hungry they will go looking around your house. They will slip between the gaps in the pipework and explore your home.

They spread disease and tend to chew materials, such as the electrical cables in the attic, which can lead to a fire. Ultrasonic devices may deter infestation in the first place, but if they are introduced retrospectively, the mice will become accustomed to them.

Humane traps will catch maybe six out of 10, and mice breed quickly. Which leaves poison, I am afraid. I put it in jam jars up in the loft so that it's contained.

The poison dehydrates the animals so most seek water outside. Those that die inside quickly mummify. When they are gone, find out where they entered your house and plug the gaps with caulk or mastic. Watch out for climbing plants, which mice can use as ladders.

Our staircase creaks and it is driving us mad, especially when our teenage son comes home late at night. Apart from grounding him, how do we stop this?

Staircases are a jigsaw puzzle of component parts assembled by slotting into grooves, where they are glued into place and held by wedges.

Go into your cupboard under the stairs and ask somebody to walk up and down, so you can mark which steps creak. Tap out the wedges using a hammer and a flat chisel and clean off any dried glue.

Apply fresh glue and tap them back home. Where a vertical riser meets the tread, there may be triangular blocks glued into the angles that are loose. Clean these and reglue.

Identify which treads have been treated and don't walk on them until the glue is hardened.

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David Snell is contributing editor to Homebuilding & Renovating magazine